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Mortars delay Gaza aid deliveries

Israel says it has
authorised the entry to the Gaza Strip of 30 lorries carrying basic
humanitarian supplies.

It was not immediately clear when the
lorries would be allowed, however, as Palestinian militants have continued
firing rockets and mortars overnight, reported BBC.

This follows a warning by UN relief
officials that food in distribution centres would run out by Thursday.

Also on Thursday a delegation of senior
European diplomats was barred access to by the Israeli authorities.

Israel stopped the
transfer of goods - food and fuel included - for nearly a week, citing recent
militant attacks. It has also prevented journalists, including from the BBC,
from entering the territory.

Militants say the mortar and rocket fire is
their response to what they say is Israeli aggression against Gaza.

"This is the first time we've really
been under such restrictions from the Israelis. They've always been good about
letting us get in the basic humanitarian supplies of food and medicines, but
now they're not even allowing us to do that," she told the BBC.

Israeli government spokesman Mark Regev
says any improvement is dependent on the Hamas movement which runs the Gaza
Strip:

"There's been a combat situation and
it's very difficult to have unhindered functioning of the border crossings in a
situation where shooting is going on," he said.

On Wednesday, Israeli troops killed four
Palestinian militants from the Hamas movement, which has controlled Gaza since it wrested power from the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority in June 2007.

Witnesses said fighting broke out on the Gaza border after Israeli armoured vehicles crossed into the territory near Khan Younis.

The army said its soldiers were trying to
stop militants plant a bomb near the security fence surrounding the strip.

Limited supplies of fuel were sent over on
Tuesday after Gaza's only power plant ran out of diesel.

The plant provides most of the electricity
used in Gaza City; Israel supplies most of the rest of the territory's energy
needs, but the system is liable to become overloaded and blackouts are common.

Israel occupied Gaza in 1967, but pulled military forces and Jewish settlers out in the summer of 2005.

Access to the territory, which is home to
about 1.5m Palestinians, remains under control of the Israel military, as does its airspace and territorial waters.

Egypt controls the
southern entrance to Gaza at Rafah, and goes along with the policy of isolating
the Hamas movement, which Israel and its allies brand a terrorist group.

Israel and Hamas
agreed a truce in Gaza five months ago but fierce fighting resumed last week.